Internal-combustion engine



W. P. RUDKIN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Oct. 31 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 11 1926. 1,584,656

. w. P. RUDKIN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Oct. 31 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May- 11, 1926.

WII|I |I.AM PAUL RUDKI-N, OF OKLA'HOHA CITY, OKLAHOMA INTERNAL-communion ENGINE.

'Application filed October 31$1921. Serial No. 511,688.

The present invention relates to improvements in internal combustion engines and it has for its primaryobject to'provide for utilization of an auxiliary fuel 1n conjunction-with the regular fuel supply, the essential novelty residing in the manner in which said auxiliary fuel is introduced in-f to the firing chamber. at a point which will tend to prevent impairment of the highly explosive character of the firing charge or the rendering of the ignition means .1noperative as a consequence of the. contact of said auxiliary fuel with the igniter.

It should be noted that the term auxi1iary'fuel,is here usedin its loose sense so as to comprehend either the employment of water vapor or a relatively low combustible hydro-carbon fuel, and this will become more apparent as this description proceeds. To be more specific, it has become quite generally-known that considerable advantage is derived, so far as power and noncarbonization is concerned from introduc- -mg moisture ntoith'e com 'ustion chamber of .a hydro-carbon engine, but the actual -effectiveness of this combination-with the fuel is materially reduced because it is necmoisture ingredient, only .a very small quan-' tity can-be permitted to enter into the com 'bustio'n. chamber, whereas ifa larger ro-..

portion were usable a greater amount 0 -ex-.

pan'sive powervcould be produced from the steam generated.

essary to maintain the proportion of moi's-- ture relatively low owing to the tendency, when a large amount of moisture is employed, to reduce the volatility of the comustible gases and .the likelihood of putting the spark plug or igniter out'of commission bv the deposit of excess moisture upon the terminals thereof.

when .using water vapor for the Thishasled me to de- "vise my special arrangement or construe are led directly to'thei .tion wherein I propose to introduce'the water. vapor into the combustion chamber in ',,such a manner as to prevent it from diluting the oombustible fuel gaseewhich latter ter in which po-. sition they act as'a-barmer between the water vapor 'and' the igniter when under com pression, f In the .carrying .out of this in? vention, among other ob'ects in. view, .there are the provision for in epen'd'ently convey/ ing theauxiliary fuelinto the e ecombustionkehamber, the utilization of sepa-i rate valvesf'with. actuating means common the engln of parts to be hereinafterspecifica y described and claimed. I

Reference will 'now be had to the accompanying drawings forming apart of this specification, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an engine construction having an embodiment of my invention applied thereto. s

Figure 2 is a verticalsectional view showing the. details of arrangement of the construction of the invention. Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Figure. 2.

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fi ure 2.

Throughout the fodlowing detailed. description and on the several fi res of the drawing, similar parts are re erred to by like reference characters.

' Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the cylinder of a conventional engine construction and 2. the combustion chamber thereof which in 'theparticular case is formed in the detachable head 3. .-Direct-' chamber 4 and its associated main intake valve 5 and its exhaust valve 16, these valves being actuated in the customary manner by the valvelifte'rs 5". It will be particularly observed that .the valve chamber 4 is closely disposed with reference to .the chamber 2,the chamber being. flat in form so that the gases admitted into the chamber pass directly to the cylinder in the operation 'of e. I :In the head-of the engine, s eaking with reference tothe mechanism or a. sing e cylinder, I mount an auxiliary valve 7 which. is invertedwith reference to the main valve 5,.this 'valve having its valve chamber 8 dily adjacent and at one side is the valve rectly therebeneath in which the spark plug L 9 i's disposed. The special fe'atureof this invention lies particularly-in the'relationship between the valve. chamber Send the tivelyarnall .curved passage 10. In other WOHL; the spark plug 9; is. arranged at the valve chamber4-with respect'tol the engine cyli1 1der,-*the firsfimentioned chamber com 'mun'icatmg withsaid cylinder] by the rela-ll terminus of this passage 10 including the valve chamber 8 and is therefore relatively wardly into cooperation with the main valve 5, the lower extremity of said rod being bent inwardl so as to lie between the valve lifter 5 and t e stem of said main valve. By this arrangement the two valves 5 and 7 are simultaneously actuated to control the admission of the gases into the respective valve chambers and the cylinder. I

A carburetor 14 of conventional type is arranged at the customary place to receive its suppl of hydro-carbon or fuel through the supp y pipe 15, and communication between the carburetor and the valve chambers is establishel by means of a special manifold 16 which branches from the lower neck so as to convey a portion-of the gases to the auxiliary valve chamber 8 b way of the branch 17 and a portion to t e main valve chamber 4 by way of a second branch 18, each of these branches being provided with independent throttle valves 19 and 20, re-

spectively. Also at a convenient point I dispose the auxiliary fuel float chamber 21 ada ted to receive its sup ly through the con uit 22 and from this evice the liquid passes by the conduit23 into the branch 18 of the manifold within which is provided a nozzle or jet 24 beneath the throttle valve 20.

The fore oing embodies the details of construction 0% my invention and the operation of the device will now be specifically set forth. In this connection I esire it to be understood that while I propose to introduce water vapor into the en inc-through the auxiliary fuel supply 21, it is within the purview of this invention to employ the carburetor 14 for suppl ing highly volatile fuel and the device 21 fbr supplying a fuel of low volatility. For the purposes of this description, however, it is contemplated that the water sup ly from a suitable source will 5 enter the manifold passage 18 under the induction action of the en e in the form'of water va or which wil intermin is with that portion or stream of the volatile'gases which enters branch 18 of the manifold.

' This water-vapor-laden fuel passes to the valve chamber 4 under the control of the main valve and is directly introduced into 8 under the control of the valve 7 so that it is the dry gas which is ignited by the spark at the plug 9, which latter is not affected by the water-vapor-laden gas which enters the cylinder through the other passage. That is to say, owing to the ion passage 10 the dry as entering the cy inder therethrough will e compressed on the compression stroke of the piston by the water- -laden gases which are prevented by this passage from intermingling with the dry gases and dilutin the same. The ignition of the dry gas pre iminarily causes a supplemental compression of the water laden gases immediately prior to their ignition. In fact, as hereinbefore premised, this dry gas acts asa barrier between the water-vapor-laden gas and the igniter. Owing to this arrangement I am therefore able to introduce into the' cylinder a large proportion of watervapor which serves its function in maintaining the engine cool and increasing the power owing to the expansion caused by the firing of the charge through the medium of the dry ases which are ignited. Obviously, there ore, it is possible with my apparatus to use a combination of high volatile gases and low volatile gases with equal advantages and the terms employed in the claims hereto appended are to be construed in the light of this understanding;

Owin to the rovision of the throttle control in each 0 the passages 17 and 18, the operator of the engine is able to modify the fuel ingredients as found'desirable,.increasing the water-vapor content or decreasing the same according to the heat condition of the en me Since the passa e 10 is not water jacketed this becomes hig ly heated and therefore serves to advantage in the vaporization of the fuel. It will be apparent, however, that where desirable the auxiliary attachment may be formed with a water jacket in the customar manner. 7

Oneo the advantageous features of the construction resides in the fact that my modifications may be made in the details of construction of in device without departing from the spirit 0 the invention and within the terms of the claims hereto annexed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let- 125 ters Patent is 1. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with a cylinder of main and auxiliary valve chambers eac communicatng with a common fuel supply by separate mechanism by which the o eration of the de- 7 passages, means for supplying fuel through each of said chainbers,"means separate from the fuel supply for introducin moisture to one of the passages to said ciambers, and ignition means associated with the other oi said chambers.

2. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with a cylinder, offlmain and auxiliary valve chambers, a branch passage between the-auxiliary v-alve chamber and thecylinder of a diameter throughout its'lengthnot less than said chamber, separate intake passages leading to the respective valve.

chambers, and ignition means associated with the auxiliary valve chamber whereby firing of the charge is effective primarily upon that. ortion admitted to the auxiliary valve cham er ,v 3. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with acylinder, of main and Y auxiliary valve chambers, a branch passage between the auxiliary valve chamber and the cyllnder m which the. charge-is fired, separate intake passages leading to the respecsource of fuel supply for the intake passages and means communicatmg with one'of said' therefrom to the cylinder, intake valves for. joint movement for eachof'said chambers,

T tive valve chambers, ignition means assoclatcd with one of said chambers, a common passages for altering the volatility of the fuel there n. 4

4. In an internal combustion engine, the

combination with a cylinder, of main and auxiliary valve chambers, a branch passage between the auxiliary valve chamber and the cylinder in which the charge is fired, separate intake passages leading to the respective valve chambers, ignition means associated with one of said chambers, and means for introducing moisture through the intake passage leading to the other of said cham bcrs whereby firing of the charge is effective prin'iarily upon. that portion admitted through the chamber of said ignition means.

5. In an internal combustion engine, a cylinder provided with a valve chamber communicating directly therewith, an auxiliary valve chamber, a passage leading ignition means disposed in one of said valve chambers, and actuating means operatively connecting said valves to simultaneously admit charges to both of said chambers.

6. In an internal combustion engine, a.

cylinder provided with a valve chamber communicating directly therewith, an auxiliary valve chamber, a passage leading therefrom to the cylinder opposite the piston therein, intake valves for eachof. said chambers, ignition means disposed in one of said valve chambers, and actuating means comprising a rock arm and pusher rod directly connected with each of said intake valves to effect simultaneous I operation thereof,

7. An attachment for internal combustion engines comprising a cylinder provided e valve upon i said'passage, operating connections between -*the intake valves to eii'e'ct their jointoperation, separate manifold passages leading to the cylinder and to the head and having a common carburetor; connection, throttle means for controlling ,the gases passing ,through each of the manifold passages and an'independent fuel connection with one of said manifold passages.

9. In an internal combustionengine, a

piston and cylinder having a normal intake valve. controlling means for said 'valve, a w cylinder head (provided with, an auxlhary intake valve an casmg having a combustion chamberedisposed substantially in alinement with the normal intake valve, and means actuated by the controlling means for the normal intake valve for simultaneously actuating the auxiliary intake valve. J

,10; In an internal combustion engine, an auxiliary valve attachment adapted for application to said engine and comprising a cylinder intake casing provided with an'intake valve and ignition nie'ans, and actuating means for said auxiliary intake valve constructed and arranged for cooperation with "the controlling means for the normal intake valve of the engine.

11. In a'n"inl.ernal combustion engine, an auxiliary valve attachment adapted for 'application to the engine and comprising a casin g, an auxiliary intake valve and ignition means within said casmg, a bracket supported upon the engine .frame carrying means to actuate said valve, and an operative connection from said actuating means disposed to be engaged by the controlling means for the normal intake valve of said engine.

In testimony whereof. I afli'x my signature.

WILLIAM PAUL RUDKINV 

